Rescale > Case Studies > Modine Manufacturing's Transformation with Rescale's Cloud Computing

Modine Manufacturing's Transformation with Rescale's Cloud Computing

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Applicable Industries

Automotive
Oil & Gas

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Manufacturing Process Simulation
Time Sensitive Networking

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
Testing & Certification

About The Customer

Modine Manufacturing Company is an international company that designs, manufactures, and tests heat transfer solutions. They serve a wide range of industries, including automotive, agriculture equipment, and construction equipment. A significant portion of Modine’s business is in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). They focus on designing heat transfer components and systems, providing products like radiators, charge-air coolers for diesel engines, oil coolers, exhaust gas recirculation coolers, condensers and evaporators for air-conditioning systems, and battery coolers for electric vehicles. With fiscal 2016 revenues of $1.4 billion, Modine is a global company headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin, with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The Challenge

Modine Manufacturing Company, a global provider of heat transfer solutions, was facing challenges with their computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Their workstation computing systems in North America were relatively large but lacked an in-house grid computing environment. These workstations, with 10 cores and 64 gigabytes of memory, were constrained by memory and computing bandwidth, limiting the amount of parallelization they could use in their simulations. Modine Germany had a grid updated every five years, with 32 processors and plans for expansion. However, the company wanted to eliminate assumptions in their models, which added complexity and increased the model size. They also wanted to do more transient simulations, which are complex models that take a long time to run. Running a transient simulation on ten cores took them about three months, which was practically impossible. They realized they didn’t have the computing power to quickly investigate methodologies without purchasing their own computing equipment, which would have significantly delayed their development.

The Solution

Modine Manufacturing Company turned to Rescale, a cloud computing solution, to overcome their challenges. Rescale was recommended to them by other CFD engineers at a STAR-CCM+ seminar due to its ease of use. Rescale's graphical user interface (GUI) allowed Modine's engineers to easily upload files, run simulations, and download results without any coding. Rescale also provided upfront cost per hour and allowed Modine to set limits on run time to prevent going over budget. Modine used Rescale's free trial to run a quick transient simulation and compare how long it would take to run on Rescale. They were able to run a large model that would have taken three months to run as a transient model in just a few days on Rescale. Modine purchased STAR-CCM+’s Power On Demand licensing, which gave them unlimited cores per hour. They ran transient conjugate heat transfer CFD on about 500 cores in a job using Onyx and Nickel core types.

Operational Impact

The use of Rescale has significantly transformed the way Modine approaches simulation. It has enabled them to undertake tasks that were previously impossible or unrealistic due to time constraints. They no longer have to tie up their workstations for weeks to process large problems. Rescale has allowed them to respond to their customers in a timely manner. They have been able to improve their methodology by running transient CFD simulations in a very short time. This has led to the provision of more detailed results in a reasonable time frame. They have also been able to eliminate many assumptions by moving to transient simulation. The use of Rescale has opened up possibilities for Modine to explore areas they couldn't consider before, such as aero-acoustic simulations. The company anticipates that as their development engineers realize that the simulations are getting the same results as the physical tests, they will reduce physical testing, leading to further cost savings.

Quantitative Benefit